TOPIC:

In section 3.1.3 it says to plug the UMA-8 into the USB and then turn it on; I can find no power switch on the UMA-8. It appears to always be on when plugged in.

Section 3.1.3 implies that a Windows 10 driver will be installed when the UMA-8 is plugged in via USB, but nothing happens (Windows does not ask about installing a driver). Is there a way to determine whether a driver is already installed, and whether the installation was successful? Is there a way to force the installation to occur?

Section 3.2 says to open the USB Audio Control Panel, but I cannot find any miniDSP Ltd folder. I guess some software needs to be installed, but I don't understand how to do that.

I manually installed the driver for Windows. I unplugged and replugged the UMA-8, When I run the USB Audio Control Panel, it comes up, but there are no devices available so the only panel available is Status.

The Device Manager shows that the drivers did not install properly. I tried to point Windows at

C:\Program Files\miniDSP Ltd\USBAudio_Driver

but Windows was unable to install a driver. Not sure what to try next.

The following devices do not have proper drivers:
- miniDSP DFU
- miniDSP micArray XVSM UAC2.0

When I try to ask Windows to install drivers for the DFU, it says none can be found; when I try to install drivers for the XVSM, I am told that the current driver (USB Audio 2.0) is correct. And yet the device still has the orange "!" triangle on it, indicating that the driver is incorrect.

@ jonbondy

Let's see how we can help
1) STEP1: Did you go to the user downloads section to grab the UMA-8 zip file (includes the driver)? YES/NO/

2) In that zip file, you'll find the drivers under "Mic_Array_v1_0_Stereo_Multi.zip\WinDrivers\"

3) Install the drivers as per these steps. You shouldn't install the drivers from the device list in windows. It won't work.

HTH

Thank you. Things are working now. I must have downloaded the wrong ZIP

The documentation refers to four switches on the PC board, but there are none. The documentation also refers to a power switch, but there is none. I wonder if I received the correct hardware.

Thank you, again, for your help.

Can anyone suggest a quick way to demonstrate the features of the UMA-8 (in default configuration)? I tried making a stereo recording, but it sounds like mono. And parts of the Windows OS seem to think that the UMA-8 is a set of speakers, not a microphone.

There should be 4 switches near the label "MIC4" -? As seen in this photo:



Not sure about the mono/stereo thing.

Thank you!

I was looking for four two-position switches (enable/disable) like slide switches, and I was looking on the top of the board (where two components are laid out in the silk screen but are absent). I was not looking for four push button switches on the bottom of the board.

But they are there, and SW3 works as expected.

I am still not sure why I should be excited about the board, as a microphone system. A demo would be useful.

I don't know what you mean by "demo." Perhaps the app notes on it would help?

By "demo" I mean the following. I plug the device in, and, yes, it is a microphone. But how can I demonstrate (to myself or others) the features of the device? How can I set up some "noise" or some "reverb" and multiple speakers and demonstrate the superiority of this device over another microphone? How can I demonstrate dynamic reconfiguration of the directionality of the microphone system, or the elimination of noise sources?

@ jonbondy

Maybe a bit of background as to what you're trying to do here with this module and why you purchased it in the first place would help..
a) When you mention " I tried making a stereo recording, but it sounds like mono. And parts of the Windows OS seem to think that the UMA-8 is a set of speakers, not a microphone"
I think that there is a misunderstanding. This board isn't a stereo microphone. It's not supposed to give you a 3D effect. It's a "far field microphone". i.e. able to pick up signal a lot better from afar.

b) As for setting up a demo, I'm afraid that we don't have these but I'd think that you should be able to prove few concept quite easily.. e..g. see the LED following the voice of the talking as you turn the board or move around it. Introduce some noise and enable/disable the noise reduction from the GUI...

c) I do think that it all comes down to question #1. i.e why did you purchase this board? If the exercise is an engineering effort, typically has some level of method to prove concepts. Using the user manual and the GUI, it's typically sufficient to say enable/disable some of the settings, make some measurements with Audacity, process it and prove the benefit of the board.

DevTeam

Thanks for the response! I purchased the product to "better understand the technology". Your suggestion about having a round-table discussion and inspecting the changing LEDs is helpful. What I am/was looking for was a way to compare a regular microphone with the UMA-8 in order to really experience the improvements.

As to stereo vs mono, there are stereo outputs available (as explained in the manual) so I guess I became confused.

Thanks again!